The University provides numerous prizes designed to recognize student academic excellence in different areas. Most prizes do not require an application and students will be listed as winners on their transcript. Others, however, do require an application to be considered.

The Sidney Prize is awarded monthly for outstanding investigative journalism that exposes social and economic injustices. Past winners include:

This prize honors the late Professor Philip Sidney Ardern, a distinguished scholar of English literature and language. While the prize principally encourages the study of Old and Middle English, its scope is not restricted to these subjects and may be awarded to works which most closely meet the high standards of excellence that were Professor Ardern’s main criteria for selection.

Each year, the Animal Law and Policy Program awards up to two prizes to HLS students who write the best papers on animal law topics (or a related subject such as environmental or international law). The Paper must be written during the current academic year, in conjunction with a course, seminar, clinic, graduate degree, or as an independent study project. The papers are evaluated by a faculty panel and the winners are announced at a spring award luncheon attended by the authors, their professors, and members of the HLS community.

Awarded by the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa Society in memory of the late Sidney Hook, this award is given to a single undergraduate who has achieved national distinction in scholarship and undergraduate teaching and is a leader in fostering U.S.-East Asian understanding. The recipient will also demonstrate Yong Kim A.B. ’92, J.D. ’95’s interest in and enthusiasm for East Asian studies and plans to pursue a career that will advance those interests. Nominations for this award are made a year and a half prior to each Triennial Council meeting, with a call for nominations appearing in the Key Reporter and in the General Newsletter as well as on social media.

Established through the generosity of Irving and Isabel Oberman, A.B. 1917, this award is presented to an HLS student for the most outstanding paper in one of seven currently relevant legal subjects: Bankruptcy; Constitutional Law and Equal Justice Under the Law; Family Law; Environmental Law; Intellectual Property; and Law and History. This prize has a special deadline and submission instructions.

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is given annually for a children’s book that celebrates Jewish culture and values. Past winners include: